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U.S. Seizure of Russian-Flagged Tanker Heightens Global Tensions

The ship, currently between Iceland and the British Isles, has been accused of breaking US sanctions and shipping Iranian oil. It has historically transported Venezuelan crude oil. The United States has seized a Russian‑flagged oil tanker linked to Venezuela after a prolonged pursuit across the Atlantic, marking one of the most assertive enforcement actions under Washington’s sanctions program. The vessel, previously known as Bella‑1 and later renamed Marinera , was intercepted after evading an earlier boarding attempt near Venezuelan waters. U.S. military aircraft and naval units tracked the ship for weeks as it traveled across the Atlantic, at times shadowed by Russian naval vessels. Officials say the tanker was part of a network used to transport sanctioned Venezuelan and Russian oil. Its capture underscores Washington’s efforts to disrupt what it describes as illicit energy shipments that help sustain both governments. The operation comes at a delicate geopolitical moment, wit...

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Wall Street Slips to Start 2024 and Gives Back Some of Last Year’s Big Gains

 


The stock market started the year on a negative note, with Wall Street slipping and giving back some of last year’s big gains.

Futures for the S&P 500 lost 0.8% before the bell on the first trading day of 2024, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.7%. The S&P 500 slipped 13.52 points, or 0.3%, to 4,769.83. The benchmark index still posted a rare ninth consecutive week of gains and is just 0.6% shy of an all-time high set in January of 2022.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20.56 points, or 0.1%, to 37,689.54 after setting a record Thursday. The Nasdaq slipped 83.78 points, or 0.6%, to 15,011.35, but that was barely a blemish on an annual gain of more than 43%, its best performance since 2020.


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